Liberty 09/06 -- Additional Comments

[GrammaZ]

Don't want to bog down the board with another extensive review of this sailing as I agree with most of what has been posted previously. Wonderful cruise, terrific ports (though too many) and incredible service from the Carnival staff. We are a couple in our middle 50's and this was our fourth cruise, first with Carnival.

 

Some of our comments: Easiest embarkation and debarkation we have had. Very organized and stressless. No immigration to go through when you disembark so that makes a big difference. Everyone was off the ship by 8:30.

 

John Heald was very funny, our best CD. You all know the skits are prearranged but John has such a quick wit and really makes you feel it's for real.

 

As mentioned before food wasn't exceptional but very well presented. We took a bottle of wine every night to the table and were not charged corkage on any occasion. We left a small tip for our waiters every evening in lieu of it and was glad to have it go directly to them rather than to Carnival. We purchased wine and hard liquor on several occasions in port and never tried to conceal them other than putting them in our backpacks. Bottles were even clanging together so that there was no doubt what was in the packs and we were never questioned. We mixed our own drinks in our cabin and took them up to the decks. We requested that our fridge be emptied (had to do it ourselves as stewards can't) and used the fridge to keep our pop and wine cool. Took a 3 litre box of white and it fit very nicely in the fridge. Wine is so reasonable in Italy, some not too bad stuff for 1E a bottle and some really great for 5 and 6 Euros in Rome grocery stores. My husband was having a problem taking 1E wine to the table and then getting charged $10 to have it opened. But as mentioned we never were in that position.

 

Some issues we had on the ship were the non-smoking music areas. There are very few. The Piano bar is great but smoking. The Cabinet where there is jazz before dinner is smoking. Another super act playing in the lounge just outside the casino has cards on the table stating this is a non-smoking area. This is really funny as the the casino is part of this lounge and we all know how much smoking goes on in there. The large Victorian Lounge is non-smoking but plays latin music every evening and once or twice is nice you don't want to do this for 12 days. The main atrium is non-smoking but impossible to get a seat and that is only before dinner. You can go to Harry's after dinner but you have to sit on a bar stool. So this is one thing Carnival has to look at as the majority on the ship are non-smokers.

 

Having to go through the Cabinet Lounge to access the Internet room doesn't make any sense. The Cabinet is the cigar smoking lounge and one lady told me she couldn't even go to read her e-mail as she had an asthma attack the first time just going across the room. Not good planning. And not enough terminals for 2,900 people. About ten if I remember correctly.

 

As regards excursions we arranged some private and took one Carnival. The private ones were absolutely the best. We had Salvatore of Drive Amalfi for the Amalfi coast. What a fantastic time we had. Eight of us in his van, costing about 80E each. He took us to a great little restaurant where we had the best pizza and wine. Wonderful day. Some we talked to did there own thing in Naples and were very disappointed. Very dirty and scary.

 

In Dubrovnik we did the Jeep Safari and really enjoyed that. Four of us in a jeep, which disappointed us at first because we thought we would be by ourselves. But it worked fine and we had a super time. Picking fresh figs out one window and grapes out the other. Quite bumpy at times and you cross a river. Could arrange a bathroom stop on the way out as many of us ladies were in distress by lunch time. This tour included lunch and we were taken to a vintage oil pressing farm. Amazing meal with wine. This is an expensive tour but we felt well worth it. We were late getting back to the port because of traffic so did not get to go into the old town as planned. So that was a disappointment as our friends said it was the best port of the trip for them.

 

We arranged our own tour in Venice doing the Secret Itinerary of Doge's Palace. We really enjoyed it as well. Our gondola ride was 100E for four of us and we took it the second day in port in the morning. Couldn't get him to go lower. Something we just had to do and worth it in the end.

 

As mentioned previously our docking in Venice right at San Marco square was the highlight of Venice. What a thrill. There are forward observation decks on decks 9 and 10. Just take the cabin hallway on those decks right to the front of the ship and there is a door going out. Most people don't know about these decks so they are not crowded and perfect for Venice and Stomboli. Perfect viewpoint.

 

We purchased the day pass on the vaporetto and went to Murano first. As it was a Sunday the glass blowing (other than on the Carnival tour) was not available. That was disappointing. We bought glass in Murano against advice of these boards, and found their advice to be true. Found it cheaper in Venice, Rome and other Italian places. The little shops behind San Marco square seem to be better priced. I got my best prices in Rome.

 

We rented a car from Hertz for Sicily and drove to Etna and Taormina. Worked out quite reasonable cost wise but they only give you 100 free kilometres. We used 207 to get us to Etna. Takes about 1 1/2 hours. Traffid is quite reasonable and quite an easy drive. Not sure I would do it again. Watching Stromboli was much more outstanding. Taormina was very crowded and a lot of shops closed from 1:30 to 3:30.

 

Barcelona was very hot. We had privately arranged a gothic walking tour on line and found it quite long and boring. Think we were getting tired of old buildings by this point. The history is great but too much to ingest in a short period. Large department store just off Ramblas, Corte de Englais, for pop, wine and snacks in basement.

 

In Cannes we had privately booked Dream Tours. Again a wonderful decision. Jean Marc took us to Eze, Pont de Vence, the perfume factory just out of Eze, Monte Carlo and Monaco. Full day tour. Highly recommend this company. Jean Marc was extremely knowledgeable and a good driver. As this is a tender port and we had to be off the ship as soon as possible we went to the purser's desk and requested early disembarkment. They took proof of our tour and arranged for us to go to the Venitian Lounge with all of Carnival's tours for earliest disembarkment. We were off on the first tender.

 

In Livorno we again rented a car, it was waiting at the pier for us, from Hertz. As we were staying in Tuscany for a week after the cruise we decided to just to Pisa and Lucca. Went to Lucca first and loved this little village. Beautiful ceramics at Sugaro's, each piece original. They will ship. It is on the main drag. Everyone bicycles in Lucca so that is really something to see. No vespas or motor bikes.

 

Not enough ironing boards in the laundry. One board for each deck. Had to stand in line many times. Coffee was better than Princess but still left a lot to be desired. I like a dark roast so I know that is probably the reason. Got tired of the same breakfast options for the 12 days. Went to the dining room a few times, the eggs benedict was quite good. Soups in the dining room were exceptional. Art auction is fun, lots of free champagne.

 

I am getting wordy and I promised I wouldn't. So many things to talk about. All in all one of the better cruises, just too many ports in the 12 days. They cold have skipped Sicily and given us two straight days at sea or more time in Livorno. Those doing Florence that we talked to said there just wasn't enough time to do it justice.

 

We had four days in Rome pre-cruise and stayed at the Daphne Inn. Highly recommend it. Wonderful staff and some of the most reasonable rates. Very well located, could walk to pretty well everything. We cabbed mostly as there were four of us and it worked much the same as buses and was cooler and easier on the feet.

 

Any questions just ask.

 

Glenda

[charmary]

Do you have a web address or e:mail address for Dream Tours. We are leaving in a week and are interested in contacting them for the tour your described.

[Juliadlf]

Glenda:

Thanks for the post. We leave tomorrow for our Liberty cruise. Sounds like you had a great time and we hope our trip is just as enjoyable. First time cruisers so this is a very special trip for us.

 

Thanks!!

[GrammaZ]

Charmary, Dream Tours e-mail is infos@dream-tours.com. Hope you are able to use them as they made our day in the south of France immensely enjoyable.

 

Glenda

[jeno]

What time were you able to get off the ship? We are also with Dream Tours and he wants to pick us up at 10. He says we get in at 9 and he will pick us up at 10. What do you think? I would rather go earlier. Thanks!

[GrammaZ]

Jeno, as I mentioned in my post we went to the purser's desk the night before and informed them we had a private tour at 9:00 a.m. They told us to meet all together (those of us on the tour) at the purser's desk at 8:30 and they would tell us where to go. We were told to go to the Venetian Palace and contact one of the staff and tell them our situation. We did that and they radioed through to make sure there was enough room on one of the tenders, which there was, and we were on shore and waiting for Jean Marc by 9:00. There was quite a bit of traffic and so Jean Marc didn't get to us until about ten after nine. So if you do the same as us there should not be any problem getting off the ship for 9:00 a.m. We were back to the dock at 6:30 as some of us had reservations at Harry's for seven. If you don't get on one of the first tenders, there is a chance it could be 10:00 before you are on shore.

 

They were taking people over on the tenders by 8:30. We docked way before that.

 

Glenda

[jeno]

Thanks for the post. I will contact him and see if we can go sooner.

[cathyoo]

Great review but you weren't wordy enough. Thanks for posting.

[charmary]

Jeno we have contacted Dream tour and they are booked up for 10/22. Are you booked for that day and would you be interested in sharing the tour. We will be on the Carnival Liberty. If so please contact me at Charlotte.Crawford@Cardinal.com

[happy1]

Those of us sailing in the future never can get enough reviews. Thanks for posting such informative information.